Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Champagne and liqueur cocktail with brioche
chipsThis is a great way to use up any left over
brioche, these chips make a delicious little, sweet and salty something to have
with your favorite cocktail.

Thinly slice the brioche, approximately
2-3mm thick and place on a lined baking tray, drizzle with extra virgin olive
oil and sprinkle with salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper. Bake at 180C
for 10 minutes until golden and crispy. Serve sprinkled with fresh lemon thyme
leaves. the food dept. has served ours with a champagne cocktail. Drizzle a
little of your favorite fruit liqueur in the bottom of a champagne glass and
top with chilled champagne. Enjoy.

1. Chill 8 tall
glasses. Just before serving, place 4 peppercorns in the base of each glass,
gently crush with the back of a spoon.

2. Add a scoop of
ice to each glass and top each glass with 1 tablespoon of Pimms and 1
tablespoon Elderflower cordial.

3. Add the mint
and cucumber garnish and top with approximately ½ cup of soda water in each
glass. Serve.

food dept. fact: If you would like your cocktail a little sweeter or would like to try
something different, replace the soda water with lemonade or ginger ale.

Crab, Avocado Salad in Witlof with Salmon Roe

The witlof leaf serves as it's purpose as a mini bowl, leaving your other hand free for a cocktail or glass of bubbles.Makes approx.
16 leaves.

• 2 green witlof

• 150g crab meat

• ½ firm avocado,
finely diced

• juice 1 lime

• 3 teaspoons
extra virgin olive oil

• salt and
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 50g salmon roe

• 1 tablespoon
snipped chives

• chive flowers,
for garnish

• extra, lime
wedges, for serving

1. Gently pull apart
the leaves from the witlof and trim the ends. Wash and dry them, arrange on a
serving platter.

2. Place the
crabmeat, avocado, lime juice, oil, salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl,
toss gently.

3. Place a heaped
teaspoon of the crab mixture in each witlof leaf and top with a little salmon
roe, chives and chive flowers. Serve with extra wedges of lime.

Lobster on Baby Brioche Rolls with Lemon Mayonnaise

Makes 16 rolls.

• 1 tablespoon cooking
salt

• 4 large green lobster
tails

• 1 quantity Baby
brioche rolls

• 1 quantity
Lemon mayonnaise

• 1 bunch chervil

• lemon wedges,
for serving

1. Place a large
boiler of water over a high heat and add the salt, bring to the boil.

2. Add the lobster
tails and reduce to a simmer. Cook the lobsters for 1 minute per 30 grams, eg
300g tails should be simmered for 10 minutes. Remove from the water and allow
to cool.

3. Once cold, use scissors
and snip down the underside of the lobster tail, crack open the tail and remove
the meat, cut into medallions and chill until ready to serve.

4. Warm the Baby
brioche buns and cut almost all the way through. Top with medallions of
lobster, Lemon mayonnaise and chervil sprigs.

5. Serve with
wedges of lemon to squeeze over.

food dept. fact: You can also use cooked prawns instead of lobster if you prefer.

Bake it yourself – Baby Brioche Rolls

The sweetness of the brioche rolls balances perfectly against the tang of the lemon mayonaisse, if you are feeleing time poor, order brioche rolls from your local baker.Makes
approximately 16-18 baby rolls.

• ½ cup milk,
warmed

• 2 tablespoons
raw sugar

• 2 teaspoons
dried yeast

• 500g plain
flour

• ½ teaspoon salt
flakes

• 4 eggs, lightly
beaten

• 175g softened
butter, roughly diced

• extra, 1 egg
and extra, 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing

• sesame seeds

1. Combine the
milk, sugar and yeast in a jug and stir to combine. Allow to stand in a warm
place for 20 minutes to activate the yeast.

2. Place the flour
and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer, which is fitted with a dough hook.
Pour in the yeast mixture and eggs and mix to combine to dough.

3. With the mixer
running add the butter a few pieces at a time and mix for 5 minutes to create
an elastic and smooth dough. It will be a very soft dough.

4. Cover with a
clean towel and allow to stand in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the
dough has doubled in size.

5. Preheat oven to
200C. Punch down the dough and pull off 50g pieces of dough. Give it a knead on
the bench and shape into a roll. Don’t be tempted to add extra flour even
though it is a very soft dough, the amount of butter should stop it from
sticking to the bench. Repeat with the remaining dough, you should end up with
approximately 16-18 rolls.

6. Brush well with
the egg and milk glaze and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 20 minute
or until a deep golden colour.

Lemon mayonnaise

Makes approx. 1
cup.

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup light
olive oil

• rind and juice
of 1 lemon

• ½ teaspoon salt
flakes

• freshly ground
black pepper

1. Combine all
ingredients in the jug of a Kitchen Aid Blender.Blend on the LIQUEFY mode for 10-15 seconds
or until thick and emulsified. Check the seasonings and add a little more lemon
juice, salt or pepper as needed. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Use as required.

Hot Smoked Salmon and Watercress Salad with Crispy Potatoes

The smoking of
the salmon for this recipe is done using cedar planks over a gas, coal or wood
fired BBQ.

Serves 8.

• 4 cedar planks,
for barbecuing

• 12 baby new
potatoes

• olive oil

• salt flakes

• 8 salmon tail
fillets

• olive oil

• salt and
freshly ground black pepper

• 1 large bunch
watercress

• 1 bunch dill

• 2 bunches
asparagus, trimmed

• 1 quantity
Chardonnay and seeded mustard vinaigrette

1. Place the cedar
planks in a container of cold water and weigh down to keep the planks under
water, soak for a minimum of 2 hours, draining just before use.

2. Place the
potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil, once boiling cook for 15
minutes or until potatoes are soft when tested. Drain and allow to cool until
cold enough to handle.

3. Preheat the
oven to 190C. Cut the potatoes in half crossways and place cut side down on a
lined oven tray. Squash the potatoes with the palm of your hand until 1cm
thick.

4. Drizzle with
olive oil and sprinkle with salt flakes, bake for 30 minutes, turning over
after 15 minutes or until golden and crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to
cool.

5. Break the watercress
in to sprigs and wash, chill until ready to serve.

6. Preheat BBQ to
a medium heat. Place the salmon tails onto the cedar planks and rub with olive
oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle over dill sprigs.

7. Place over the
grill side of the BBQ and cover with the bbq lid or foil, cook for 10-15
minutes. Cooking time will depend on the size of the salmon pieces and the
temperature of the BBQ.

8. Once the salmon
has cooked, chargrill the asparagus spears for 2-3 minutes turning several
times.

9. Arrange the
watercress, crispy potatoes, asparagus and salmon on a serving platter and
drizzle with the dressing.

Chardonnay and Seeded Mustard Vinaigrette

Makes 1 cup.

• ½ cup
chardonnay vinegar

• ½ cup extra virgin
olive oil

• 1 tablespoon
seeded mustard

• 1 teaspoon raw
sugar

• salt flakes and
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Combine all
ingredients in a jar and shake to combine, use as required.

food dept. fact: You can buy cedar planks designed especially for cooking on the BBQ and
imparting a delicious and smoky flavour. Look for them in a good BBQ or kitchenware
shop. BBQ over the grill side of a gas BBQ
or over a wood or coal BBQ.

Frozen Passionfruit Pavlova Wreath

It is true the food dept. have reinvented the Aussie pav! It's simple, smash up your meringues or a store bought pavlova and mix it up with passionfruit curd and a cream mixture, freeze and 4 hours later you have an adorable Christmas wreath or dessert for New Years eve.

Serves 10-12.

• 8 egg yolks

• 2/3 cup caster
sugar

• seeds from 1
vanilla pod

• 250g mascarpone

• 600ml thickened
cream, whipped to soft peaks and chilled

• 1 quantity
Meringues

• 1 quantity Passion
fruit curd

• 3 passion fruit
and extra 3, for serving

• red currants,
for serving

1. Combine the egg
yolks, sugar and vanilla seeds in a large heatproof bowl. Place over a pot of
simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Beat
with an electric mixer for 5-6 minutes, until pale and fluffy and holds a
ribbon when you run the beaters over the top.

2. Remove from the
heat and continue to beat until cold.

3. Once cold, fold
through the mascarpone and then the whipped thickened cream.

4. Take 3 of the
meringues and cut into large chunks, approx. 2cm square.Gently fold through the cream mixture.

5. Take a large
ring pan or mold, approximately 2.5 litre capacity and spoon in 1/3 of the
cream meringue mixture. Dot approximately 1 tablespoon of the Passion fruit
curd and the pulp of 1 fresh passion fruit over the cream meringue. Repeat
again twice with the remaining cream mixture, meringues, passiofruit curd and
fresh passion fruit pulp to create 3 rough layers.

6. Using a skewer,
gently run it through the cream and curd mixture to marble it. Cover with
plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

7. Unmold the
semifredo by dipping the tin into warm water for a few seconds and then turn
onto a serving platter. Serve with extra crushed meringues, curd and fresh passion
fruit. Garnish with red currants.

Meringues

Makes 6.

• 4 egg whites

• pinch salt

• 1 ¼ cups caster
sugar

• 2 teaspoons corn
flour

• 1 teaspoon
white vinegar

• 1 teaspoon pure
vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to
120C. Beat egg whites and salt with an electric mixer until they form soft
peaks. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, a quarter at a time and beat until
glossy. Add corn flour, vinegar and vanilla and beat on low until just mixed
through. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Using a 1 cup measure, place
mixture onto baking trays to form large meringues. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn
off the oven and allow the meringues to cool in the oven with the door ajar.
They should be crisp on the outside and marshmallowy in the centre.

Easy Passionfruit Curd

Makes 1¼ cups.

• 1/3 cup passion
fruit pulp (approx. 4 passion fruit)

• 2 eggs, lightly
beaten

• ½ cup sugar

•125g unsalted
butter, diced at room temperature

1. Combine the
passion fruit pulp, eggs and sugar in a saucepan over a medium-low heat.

2. Whisk
continuously until the curd thickens to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from
the heat and immediately add the diced butter and continue to whisk until the
butter has melted. Allow to cool.

The Food Dept.'s Berry Cherry Snow Cones

Makes 8 x 1 cup
snow cones.

• 3 cups caster
sugar

• 2 cups water

• 250g punnet
strawberries, roughly chopped

• 2 x 125g
punnets raspberries

• 250g cherries,
pitted

• juice 1 lemon

• 8 cup ice cubes

1. To make the
cherry berry cordial, combine the caster sugar and water in a saucepan and stir
to dissolve the sugar over a medium heat. Once dissolved, bring to the boil and
cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

2. Combine the
berries and cherries in a large mixing bowl and add the lemon juice. Using a
potato masher, gently squash the fruit to release the juices without completely
crushing it.

3. Pour the hot
sugar syrup over the crushed fruit and gently mix. Allow to cool and then
refrigerate for 48 hours.

4. Strain through
muslin and then decant into sterilized bottle, store in the refrigerator for up
to 1 month. Makes approximately 1 litre.

5. To make the
snow cones, place 2 cups ice cubes into a Kitchen Aid Blender and crush the ice
using the CRUSH ICE mode. Pour the crushed ice into a large plastic container
and place in the freezer until ready to use. Repeat with remaining ice cubes.

food dept. fact: Keep the left over fruit pulp from the cordial to serve over ice cream or
top a pavlova. You can also puree the fruit to make a delicious fruit coulis.

WIN a KitchenAid blender in our first ever Christmas comp. All
you need to do is be a the food dept subscriber and photograph a recipe
which uses a blender then upload your pic onto instagram or our Facebook page using the hashtag #TFDblender. We know you are all super creative, so our favourite pic will win an Artisan Blender in Empire Red from our friends at KitchenAid Australia and New Zealand,
KitchenAid Artisan Blender valued at $249! The comp ends on December
24th, so get your entries in. This comp is only open
to Australian and New Zealand residents. Good luck!

With special thanks to everyone on our summer holiday:Our lovely photography assistant, Leanna and our new models, Smith, Lily, Eliza, Lachlan and Piper. A big thank you to Fay who looks after her grandkids every time we shoot. And lastly to Howie and Frances for saying yes.

Thursday, 7 November 2013

This month we take inspiration from Italy with some fresh new Spring recipes from Milanese chef and friend Luca Ciano. Luca's enthusiasm for food and people is contagious and loves to share beautiful recipes, stories and tips for creating authentic Italian meals. If you have ever wanted to learn how to cook like an Italian, Luca often travels around Australia and Asia doing cooking classes and demonstrations. Contact Luca through his website for details.

For now please enjoy the food dept.'s food story with Luca's recipes.

Orecchiette pasta with spicy n’duja with asparagus and fresh ricotta

This is an easy pasta to make mid week for your family. N’duja is a
spicy, soft, spreadable salami available from good Italian delis. You can substitute this salami for any salami of your liking.

PREP 20min COOKING TIME
5min SERVES 4-6

• 1/3
cup extra virgin olive oil

• 3 spring onion, cut into 3cm lengths

• 3 garlic cloves, bruised with skin on

• 2 bunches of asparagus, cut into 1cm lengths (tips kept separate)

• salt
and pepper, for seasoning

• 350g Orecchiette pasta

• 1 punnet ripe, grape tomatoes, halved

• 100g n’duja (salami), broken into 1cm pieces

• 10
leaves, fresh oregano

• 150g fresh
ricotta

• 50g
dry salted ricotta

1.
Bring plenty of salted water to the boil (about 7g salt to 1 Litre water)

2.
Heat oil in a large frying pan, then add spring onions and cook for 3 minutes,
then add garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add asparagus (not the tips) and
cook for further 2 minutes, add salt and pepper.

3.
Drop pasta in the water and cook accordingly to packet’s instruction and 2
minutes before draining add the asparagus tips into the pasta water.

4.
Meanwhile, add tomatoes to the sauce and cook for 3 minutes, then add n’duja
and cook for 2 minutes.

5.
Drain pasta and asparagus tips when al dente, reserving ½ cup of cooking water,
and toss with the sauce for 1 minute. Add a little cooking water if needed to
loosen the pasta.

6.
Remove from the heat and add oregano and fresh ricotta, stir to combine.

7.
Serve with a sprinkle of salted ricotta, cracked pepper and a drizzle of olive
oil.

Is there an Italian restaurant that doesn't serve zucchini flowers? Stay in and cook your own, this recipes is wonderfully light and delicious.PREP 20min COOKING TIME 5min SERVES 4

• 300g
fresh ricotta

• 4
anchovies in oil, drained, finely chopped

• ½ cup
extra virgin olive oil

• salt
and pepper, for seasoning

• 12
small zucchini, flowers attached

• 10
large basil leaves

• 1
tablespoon pine nuts

• ½ garlic
clove

• ½ cup
grated grana Padano or other Parmigiano
Reggiano

• juice
of ½ lemon

• 1/3
cup flaked almonds, toasted

1.
Mix together ricotta, anchovies and 1 tablespoon of oil until smooth. Season.

2.
Remove flowers from zucchini. Split open one side of flowers and, using
fingertips, gently remove stamens. Fill flowers with ricotta mixture and gently
twist ends to enclose.

3.
Chop zucchini and place in a food processor with basil, pine nuts and garlic. Pulse
until finely chopped. Add remaining oil and process until smooth. Add Grana
Padano and lemon juice and pulse to combine. Season.

4. Lay filled zucchini flowers in a bamboo
steamer. Steam, covered, over a pan of gently simmering water for 2-3 mins,
until filling is firm.

5.
Place 2-3 tablespoons of zucchini pesto onto each serving plate. Top with
zucchini flowers and scatter with toasted almonds.

2.
Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, shave the asparagus into ribbons. Place in
a bowl with watercress. Whisk together lemon juice and extra olive oil and season.
Add dressing to the salad and toss to combine.

3.
Heat vegetable oil in a large shallow pan until 180C or until a cube of bread
sizzles on contact. Spoon 3 heaped tablespoons of ricotta mixture around edge
of pan. Shallow-fry for 3-4 mins, until cooked through. Drain. Repeat to make
18 fritters, reheating oil between batches.

4.
Place the fritter on the watercress and asparagus salad, serve.

Thank you! We would like to thank Luca Ciano for his generosity and for creating these wonderful recipes for the food dept. Thanks for hanging out with us on the shoot day, you have been a dream to work with. We hope you love the pics!

Thursday, 10 October 2013

the food dept. and Baker's Royale join forces to create this food featureThis post is super exciting for the food dept. and a first for us! So who is Baker's Royale you ask? Baker's Royale is an American food blogger Naomi Robinson, who recipe develops, styles and photographs her beautiful baked treats on her blog Bakers Royale. She is also a working Mum and wife, so she really is an inspiration to everyone. This little baker didn't eat a real cupcake until she was a teenage, grew up on Jiffy’s blueberry muffin mix and doesn't like perfume. Yet Naomi bakes fragrant cakes such as lavender honey cupcakes, and rose cupcakes so go figure. This duplicity, her everyday musings, and breath taking food photography, make her blog totally addictive and clearly very successful.For the food dept.'s American diner food feature, Naomi has developed a melt-in-your-mouth banana split whoopie pie recipe. We wanted an all American dessert recipe for our diner story and we have all
admired Naomi's blog for some time, so she seemed the perfect fit. Lucky for us, she said yes! Check out her awesome 8 layer, Coconut and mango cake,(she also likes to smash things a little). Her
tuxedo cake is super cute as well, for its name, and the sweet image.

For anyone who aspires to be a food blogger or make their blog better, Naomi has generously written for the food dept. some cool tips and tricks to making your food blog a success.

Bakers Royale Top 5 blogging tips:1.Find your voice and style,
while this may not happen immediately, it will happen more quickly the more you
blog. There are a lot of excellent food blogs, with crazy good recipes and awesome
pictures, but the ones that have me coming back regularly are the ones that
have a distinct voice and photography style. 2.Hone your craft, and take
measured risks to grow. By measured I mean, know why you are doing something
different, rather than just trying to be different. I tend to gravitate to
blogs that take risks with their craft and switch things up, especially their
photography.3.This is a philosophy that
I blog by and live by, “Take your work and craft seriously, but don’t take
yourself too seriously.”4.Embrace the food blogging
community and use social media as much as you can. It’s a great place to
connect, make friends and learn from your peers.5.Know your ability and
measure your success to it. I know this is common sense, but it’s something I
forget sometimes and it causes me undue frustration.For more cool tips.

Banana split whoopie pies

I know it seems long but there
are essentially 3 components to making this recipe. Firstly the whoopie cake then
the 2 fillings, the banana pastry cream and Swiss meringue buttercream and lastly the
chocolate glaze. For image

1. Sift flour, brown sugar and baking powder in a bowl; set aside. 2. In second bowl fold baking soda and sour cream until combined; set aside.3. Place egg, vanilla extract and vegetable oil in a bowl and whisk until well combined and mixture is slightly emulsified. Add in sour cream mixture and whisk until combined. Add carbonated water and whisk until combined. 4. Combine flour mixture with wet mixture fold to combine. 5. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe onto a parchment line bake sheet.6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

1. Combine ½ cup milk and cornstarch stir to dissolve. Add in whole egg, egg yolks and bananas and beat until well combined; set aside. Prepare an ice bath; set aside.2. Combine remaining milk with sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove saucepan from heat and transfer mixture to a new pan to reduce any residual heat. Set aside and cool milk mixture for 5 minutes.3. Slowly add egg mixture into cooked milk mixture, stirring constantly so the eggs do not curdle.. Return mixture to stovetop and stir vigorously until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to stir until the whisk leaves a trail in the pastry cream, about 5-7 minutes. Once pastry cream reaches this stage, remove saucepan from heat and stir in butter and vanilla extract. Transfer the saucepan to the ice bath. Stir occasionally until pastry cream is cool about 30 minutes.4. Place heavy cream and confectioner sugar in a chilled stainless bowl. Using a hand mixer beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.5. Once banana pastry cream has cooled, combine 1 part whipped cream to 2 parts banana pastry cream.

Bakers Royale note:The filling is a diplomat crème—a combination of pastry cream and whipped cream. You can skip the whipped cream and just use the banana pastry cream. But keep in mind the banana cream will have a greyish tint to it. Making the filling as a diplomat creme will help to lighten the color, since adding any yellow food coloring to banana pastry cream seems to give it a mustard color. Frosting (Swiss meringue buttercream)Can be made up in advance and kept refrigerated until ready for use. Place on counter to bring to room temperature (do not mircorwave)

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer bowl and place it over (not on) simmering water. Heat mixture to 160 degrees F while whisking constantly.2. Transfer mixer bowl to stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) until mixture cools, doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10-12 minutes.3. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking at first—this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again.

Chocolate glaze Can be made up in advance and kept refrigerated until ready for use. Reheat to pouring consistency

1. Place chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl over simmering water. Let chocolate and cream sit for 2-3 minutes to melt without stirring. Then stir mixture to combine. Add confectioner sugar and mix to combine, mixture will clumpy. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until pouring consistency is reached. Push mixture through a sieve to avoid any clumps Set aside and let sauce cool to warm. Assembly2. Place frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe frosting along the bottomside perimeter of one whoopie cake. Fill center with banana filling. Place a second whoopie cake bottomside down on top of filling. 3. Place assembled whoopie pie on a grated rack with a bowl fitted underneath (to catch excess chocolate). Drizzle chocolate glaze on top. Dust top with sprinkles. Place a small dollop of frosting on and garnish with a maraschino cherry.